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Orpah and Her Interpreters: Evaluating the Justifications for the Traditional-Stereotyped Readings

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Orpah and Her Interpreters: Evaluating the Justifications for the Traditional-Stereotyped Readings 390 Michael, “Orpah and her Interpreters,” OTE 24/2 (2011): 390-413 Orpah and her Interpreters: Evaluating the Justifications for the Traditional-Stereotyped Readings MATTHEW MICHAEL (ECWA THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY , KAGORO ) ABSTRACT The traditional readings of the book of Ruth normally treat Orpah either in the semi-category of a villain or a full-fledged villain who turned her back on Naomi, monotheism, and the messianic lineage and hence disappeared from the sacred history into polytheism. In these traditional Jewish and Christian perspectives, the character Orpah is largely denied presence, importance or voice in the bibli- cal text. This tendency primarily comes from the imposing ideologi- cal context of the book of Ruth as a royal story and the subsequent readings of this particular character within this ideological tem- plate or even further possible readings in canonical and ecclesiasti- cal mappings. Taking sides with Orpah, this paper evaluates the various interpretative traditions by midrashic, feminist and conser- vative interpreters. It critiques the justifications for the traditional- stereotyped readings and notes the power dynamics involved in Orpah finding herself as a minority in the story of the most powerful royal family in Jewish history. A INTRODUCTION There is a gross injustice commonly perpetuated in the writing of history or the telling of stories because often the stories of commoners are not only ignored but deliberately silenced in the light of the imposing stories of empire builders, kings, royal families and aristocrats. 1 Unfortunately, this treatment of the 1 In the ancient world, writing a text is an expensive enterprise, hence scribes and historians often collaborate with the aristocrats in order to see their work published. Interestingly, the scribes themselves are part of the aristocratic class because writing entails literacy and literacy is a luxury of the elites and the aristocrats. In fact, the commoners are illiterate who largely cannot read or write, and while fending to make a living, usually care less of the babbling from the literary world [for a description of the pre-Hellenistic scribal practice see David M. Carr, Writing on the Tablet of the Heart: Origins of Scripture and Literature (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 111-173. See also Ehud Ben Zvi, “Introduction: Writing, Speeches, and the Prophetic Books— Setting an Agenda,” in Writings and Speech in Israelite and Ancient Near Eastern Prophecy , (eds. Ehud Ben Zvi and Michael H. Floyd, Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2000), 6– 16. Similarly, the influence of the aristocratic class on ancient stories and histories is also seen in the scribal practices of dedicating their works to a person of nobility or of aristocratic status. In some cases, their works are dedicated to a popular deity or even deities which are worshipped by the elites Michael, “Orpah and her Interpreters,” OTE 24/2 (2011): 390-413 391 ordinary people takes them out of existence and exterminates their presence in history. It is in this perspective that the ordinary people have been described variously as the “people without history,” “little people,” “silent subjects” and the “invisible folks.”2 Consequently history is often about the few rich individuals whose stories and achievements are described and embossed in human memories and the historical archives while the vast majority of commoners are entirely left out and their deeds are placed at the footnote or margin of these magisterial characters.3 Similarly, this biased character of especially the royal and the priestly classes. Consequently, the scribal culture of patronage and dedications often compromised the stories or historical writings since it describes and tells events from the dominant perspectives of the rich and the affluence who often sponsored these writings. (On the significant role of patronage in ancient Near East see Raymond Westbrook, “Patronage in the Ancient Near East,” Journal of the Economic & Social History of the Orient 48/2 [2005]: 210-233. See also Niels Peter Lemche, “Kings and Clients: On Loyalty between the Ruler and the Ruled in Ancient ‘Israel,’” Semeia 66 [1994]: 119–32.) Framed within these ideological commitments, ancient stories and histories largely tell the story of the aristocratic class and their interests while the stories of the commoners are largely reflected on the margin or in parentheses. In reference to the Bible, Stephan Geller has observed that the biblical text does not represent the masses, but “a small elite” (see Stephan A. Geller, “The God of the Covenant,” in One God or Many? Concepts of Divinity in the Ancient World , [ed. Barbara N. Porter, Bethesda: CDL Press, 2000], 317). Similarly, Karel van der Toorn has drawn attention to the part played by the aristocratic class and scribes in the writing of the Bible. To this end, van der Toorn observed, “the Hebrew Bible is a product of the scribal workshop” and to a great extent, the result of an aristocratic production or making (see Karel van der Toorn, Scribal Culture and the Making of the Hebrew Bible [Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2007], 4). In addition, Kurt I. Noll has also observed “a relatively arbitrary invention” of the present canonical versions of biblical stories which are crafted by “a handful of scribes and not the Jewish community” (see Kurt I. Noll, “Was there Doctrinal Dissemination in Early Yahweh Religion?” Biblical Interpretation 16 [2008], 400). Without attempting to be comprehensive, the preceding works underscore the elitist character of biblical narratives and its tendency to speak from the scribal ivory tower of the ancient Jewish society rather than from the world of commoners. Admittedly, the biblical text is populated with stories of commoners, however, the Bible predominantly told its stories from an elitist point of view (see Philip R. Davies, Scribes and Schools: The Canonization of the Hebrew Scriptures [Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox, 1998]). 2 Lynn Rainville, “Locating the ‘People without History’ in Histories of Ancient Near East,” Reviews of Anthropology 35 (2006): 37-59. 3 For example in the story of David’s affairs with Bathsheba, the story is told primarily from the perspective of king David and at the expense of Bathsheba who lost a husband and have to carry an illegitimate child. In addition, she also has to bear all the attending stigma of this very act. Describing the role of Bathsheba, Adele Ber- lin observed, “Throughout the entire story the narrator has purposely subordinated the character of Bathsheba. He has ignored her feelings and given the barest notice of her actions.” Bathsheba was treated “as a complete non-person…not even a minor 392 Michael, “Orpah and her Interpreters,” OTE 24/2 (2011): 390-413 history and story also extends to the place of minorities 4 within the biblical text because often the voices of minorities are either repressed, silenced or caricatured 5 in the overriding rhetoric and interests of the dominant characters, worldviews and ideologies of the biblical text.6 Coming from a minority, I have cultivated over time a deep interest in minor characters of biblical or secular literatures. 7 For example, it would be insightful to see or understand the biblical stories from the perspectives of Asenath, Zipporah, Jochebed and Tamar. Indeed, it is not an accident that all character, but simply part of the plot” despite the pain of her unfortunate circumstance. See Adele Berlin, “Characterization in Biblical Narrative: David’s Wives,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 23 (1982), 73. 4 In more recent times, the plight of minorities has become a subject of great con- cern in biblical studies. On this concern and related issues see Richard A. Horsley, “Submerged Biblical Histories and Imperial Biblical Studies,” in The Postcolonial Bible (ed. Rasiah S. Sugirtharajah, Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998), 152- 57; Fernando F. Segovia, “Racial and Ethnic Minorities in Biblical Studies,” in Eth- nicity and the Bible (ed. Mark G. Brett, Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2002), 469-92; Rasiah S. Sugirtharajah, ed. Voices from the Margin: Interpreting the Bible in the Third World (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2006). 5 For the ambiguous characterization of minor characters particularly in the study of New Testament fourth Gospel see Colleen M. Conway, “Speaking through Ambigu- ity: Minor Characters in the Fourth Gospel,” Biblical Interpretation 10/3 (2002): 324- 341. See also James M. Howard, “The Significance of Minor Characters in the Gospel of John,” Bibliotheca Sacra 163 (2006): 63–78. On the place of minor characters in Mark see David M. Rhoads, Joanna Dewey and Donald Michie, Mark as Story: An Introduction to the Narrative of a Gospel (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1999), 130- 135; Andrew D. Clarke, “‘Do not Judge who is Worthy and Unworthy’: Clement’s Warning not to Speculate about the Rich Young Man’s Response (Mark 10. 17-31),” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 31 (2009): 447-468; Joel F. Williams, Other Followers of Jesus: Minor Characters as Major Figures in Mark’s Gospel (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1994), 60–67. Specifically in the gospel of Mark, M. McVann noted the significant role played by minor characters in the death of Jesus and John the Baptist, hence he observed, “In both cases, the seemingly arbitrary presence of a minor character has a startlingly determinative effect on the course of events leading to the death of the prophets: the dancing girl in John’s case and Barabbas in the case of Jesus; both provide the excuse or the ‘cover’ for the rulers’ ‘saving face’ by acquiescing to public pressure (6:26; 15:15).” See Mark McVann, “The ‘Passion’ of John the Baptist and Jesus Before Pilate: Mark’s Warning about Kings and Gover- nors,” Biblical Theology Bulletin: A Journal of Bible and Theology 38 (2008), 153. 6 On the ideologies of biblical texts see David J.
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